“The form that we are now in and how we play, they are much, much better than us.

“It’s up to us now to step back and start to win games again and deserve those fans because those fans are fantastic. You see Fulham away, four or five thousand people when we are in the middle of nowhere and fighting for nothing and they support us anyway, so that’s a huge respect from myself.”

The clash against Sunderland this weekend is heading towards a crowd of around 30,000.

The struggling Wearside club, who are in deep relegation trouble, are visiting Leeds for the first time since 2006.

When the two sides met at the Stadium of Light back in August, goals from Samu Saiz and Stuart Dallas earned Leeds a 2-0 win and they are looking to earn a first double over Sunderland since the 2000/2001 season.